The 2010 I.T.Spec*tacular

will be held July 30th-Aug 1st at Mid Ohio

More info?

CLICK HERE

for the IT-SPEC*Tacular Page!

Supplementary Rules and Registration

Click HERE for the IT-Spec*Tacular Page!

2010 Results!!!

Final Saturday Qualifying

Saturday Final Race Results

Sunday Final Race Results

SCCA Club Racing

Cincinnati is one of the Sports Car Club of America's 109 regions.  Sports Car Club of America, through those regions, hosts hundreds of SCCA Club Racing events each year.  These events are in three categories: Drivers Schools, Regional races and National races. 

• Drivers Schools are required for new racers, the first step for a driver to receive his or her competition license. 
  
  
• SCCA Regional races offer great competition in over 30 classes of cars (actual number of classes varies by geographical divisions) on road racing tracks throughout the country.  Cincinnati Region has, for over 30 years, presented the Freedom Regional on the July 4th weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (in Central Ohio), one of the largest and most successful Regional races each year.
  
  
• SCCA National Races are the top level of SCCA Club Racing, featuring longer races (approximately 50 miles) for cars in 24 top classes.  Many National races are spectator events and the Club Racers have the opportunity to put on a show in front of crowds of people. National club races are only one step below SCCA's Pro Racing Series, and many of the Pro drivers in SCCA series, as well as other series, got their starts in the SCCA Club ranks.  National racers collect points throughout the racing season to qualify for the Valvoline Runoffs, the race that determines the National Champion in each class.

But perhaps you ask: "What do you mean when you say 'Road Racing' or 'Club Racing'?"

That's a fair question...Road Racing defines a class of racing that is held on "natural terrain" courses.  That is, the course follows the ground it is built upon, turning left or right, going up and down hills, etc.  The majority of road racing events are on dedicated closed courses like Mid-Ohio, Road America (in Wisconsin), Watkins Glen (in New York), and Laguna Seca (in California).  Others are held on road course layouts set in the infield areas of famous large oval tracks like Daytona, Lowe's (Charlotte), Phoenix and California Speedways.  A few events are held each year on temporary circuits on city streets, public parks and airports.  Club Racing is the amateur program for road racing within SCCA

"Could you explain all those classes?"

Certainly!  SCCA Club Racing offers drivers the chance to race a wide variety of car types.  Club Racing classes fall into a few categories:  Formula cars, Sports racers, Production cars, GT (grand touring) cars, IT (improved touring), touring and Showroom Stock.  In more detail:

Two categories of classes, Formula cars and Sports Racers, are for cars that started life as race cars...these cars are all-out race machines, with no extra accommodations for highway driving.

Formula cars:  These cars are single seat racers with open (exposed) wheels, similar to those raced around the world in CART's Champ Series, Formula 1, and the Indy Racing League.  Formula Atlantic (FA) cars are the fastest SCCA Formula class, similar to the cars raced in the Toyota Atlantic pro series.  Formula Continental (FC) cars are slightly slower (170 horsepower versus 300) cars that are also used in the US F2000 pro series.  Formula Ford (FF) are similar to FC cars but with smaller engines and minus the aerodynamic wings allowed on the FC cars.  Formula Vee (FV) are VW-powered cars (think old Beetle!) that form an excellent entry level class with some of the best racing around.  Formula Mazda (FM) is a newer class using Mazda rotary engines in identical chassis.  At the regional level, classes are often added for Club Formula Ford (CFF), Club FC , etc, to provide a place for older cars to compete.

Sports Racers:  These cars are also purpose-built racing cars like the Formula category cars (and in some cases are mechanically similar), but have full bodywork that encloses the wheels.  Sports 2000 cars are the full-bodied equivalent of the Formula Continental cars, and are similar to those raced in the American Cities Racing League professional race series.  C and D Sports Racers (CSR & DSR) have very few construction rules...they have to meet minimum weight and maximum engine size rules, they must have a "full-envelope" body (enclosing the wheels), and they must meet SCCA's safety requirements.  This format encourages home designers and builders to try to create a car which will take best advantage of the minimal rules.  You will see a wide variety of cars in this class.  SCCA Spec Racer Ford is a series designed for the entry-level competitor.  The cars are identical (with class rules designed to keep them that way), sturdy and safe, but require a lot of skill to drive fast.  This makes the SCCA Spec Racer perfect for new drivers learning to race.

The remaining categories of classes are for race cars that started life as passenger cars and have been modified for race use.  The categories are listed here in order of increasing modification from stock configuration.

Showroom Stock:  As the name indicates, these cars are raced in nearly as-delivered condition.  The cars must have the required safety equipment (full roll cage, 5- or 6-point safety belt harness, window net, and fire extinguisher must be installed, and the air bags must be de-activated.), and the muffler(s) may be removed, but no other performance enhancements are allowed.  Cars must be no more than seven years old.  The classes, SSB and SSC, contain cars like BMW Z3s, Honda Civics, Mazda Miatas and Proteges, Chrysler's Neons, Ford Focus and ZX2s, Nissan Sentras and other small cars.

Touring:  These cars are mostly larger and more powerful cars and are allowed to prepare a little further, with stiffer suspension and larger wheels and tires.  Otherwise, the rules are similar to those of Showroom Stock cars (no engine modifications allowed, all interior and exterior trim must remain in place.)   Cars in the T1 class include, Chevrolet Corvettes, Dodge Vipers, BMW M3s and Porsche 911s.  Some of the cars in T2 class are: Ford Mustangs, Chevrolet Camaros, Pontiac Firebirds, Honda Preludes, BMW 318 and 325.

Improved Touring:  These cars are allowed a longer list of modifications: extra chassis bracing can be added, interior trim parts (including the back seat) can be removed, the engines can be blueprinted,  aftermarket wheels (lighter, wider) and suspension pieces (stiffer bushings, shocks, springs, etc) can be added.  Cars become eligible for Improved Touring once their eligibility expires for Showroom Stock classes, meaning that these cars are between 7 and 30 years old.  This category was designed as an entry to SCCA Club Racing, and the classes do not race at the National level.  There are four or more IT classes: ITS cars include Mazda RX7s, Nissan ZXs, Porsche 944s and various BMWs. In ITA you will see Honda CRXs, Mazda MX6s and older RX7s, Toyota MR2s, various V6-powered General motors cars, Ford's Probe, etc.  ITB cars are Volvo 142 and 242, BMW 2002, VW Golf/Rabbit/Scirocco, and many, many others.  In ITC, you will find the smallest and lightest of cars: Ford Fiestas and Escorts, smaller-engined versions of VW Rabbits, Honda Civics, and other small cars.  In some parts of the country, you will also see ITE (a catch-all class for cars that once raced in professional series), ITD (for cars even smaller and lighter than ITC cars), and even ITT (for four-cylinder pickup trucks!)

American Sedan:  Rules are similar to Improved Touring, but these are V8 powered American favorites: Camaro, Firebird and Mustang.  Unlike IT cars, American Sedans compete at National races and can participate in the championship Runoffs. 

 Production:  Series produced cars that are allowed some performance modifications but which retain their original design, structure and drive layout. Many of the cars in this class are older European sports cars, but new rules in the last few years have opened the classes up to newer cars with broader appeal. Cars included in Production classes come from a diverse group ranging from the MG Midget, Turner, Fiat X1/9, Alfa Romeo Spyder, Austin Healey Sprite and Lotus Super 7 to the Mazda Miata, Honda Civic and Toyota MR-2.

GT (Grand Touring): GT cars are purpose-built, highly modified replicas of series-produced sports sedans. GT cars are permitted tube-frame chassis with performance being equalized by allowing cars with smaller engines to compete at a lighter weight. GT-1 cars are the fastest of the category and are the closest to the SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am¨ Series. Several of the current front running cars in GT-1 are last year's Trans-Am cars and many of these GT-1 drivers compete in selected Trans-Am events throughout the season. GT-2 through GT-5 cars get progressively lighter and less powerful. Cars include Toyota Celicas, Mazda RX-7s, Nissan 200SX, Honda CRXs and Austin Mini Coopers, just to name a few.

We are also often asked: "Why haven't I seen Road Racing before?" or "Why don't I see much of this on TV?"

There are several reasons:

SCCA Club Racing (by far the largest group of Road Racers in number of events and participants) is an amateur competition, mostly focused on the participants.  Public promotion of Club Racing events is usually minimal and they are not often televised.  This is changing, as SCCA Club Racing's national championship event, the Valvoline Runoffs, has been televised live on the Speedvision cable network for the last several years and other Club Races are setting up television, radio, and webcasting coverage for their events.

Professional level road racing has a long and exciting history in the United States, and is wildly popular in Europe, Brazil and other parts of the world.  Unfortunately for U.S. fans of road racing, it has been poorly marketed in this country over the years. The CART Champ Car Series races on road courses for part of their schedule, and even NASCAR's top series, Winston Cup, visits two road courses each year.  Beyond that, though, Road Racing has not often been widely seen.  SCCA's Pro Racing division has presented the Trans Am series since the 1960s, and the series has had periods of wide exposure and also times that were less successful.  The IMSA series reached high levels of popularity in the 1980s during its Camel GT era, featuring exciting racing and heavy involvement by auto manufacturers.  Recently, though, professional road racing is trying to emerge from a period of disorganization that has hurt its popularity and its exposure, just as stock car oval racing, NASCAR style, has raised itself to be one of the country's most popular spectator sports.  Don Panoz's American Lemans Series, the NASCAR-owned Grand American Series, and the Trans-Am are all resurgent as are the various road racing series for open-wheeled cars: Dayton Indy Lights, Toyota Atlantic, US Formula 2000, VW Formula 3, and Barber Dodge.    While this breadth of road racing options is exciting, it does become hard to understand for the casual fan, and therefore hard to promote.

Links to Road Racing sites:

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

SCCA Club Racing

SCCA Pro Racing

The American LeMans Series

Rolex Grand American Challenge

Speedvision World Challenge Cup

Join the SCCA